They came, they saw, they fell in love

India has had a flourishing image overseas from time immemorial, even in the remotest nations of the world. This image did not grow out of deliberate self-promotion, nor has India sought to extend its sway through force of arms. India’s classical image was established by travelers from overseas– merchants, ambassadors, conquerors, poets, philosophers, seekers of philosophy and religion, missionaries. And they came from China, Russia, Arabia, Europe, America.

The earliest documented accounts of travel to and from India go back to 975 BC when the Phoenicians imported Indian products. In order to decorate the palaces and temples of the famous king Solomon, his friend Hiram the king of Tyre, sent his fleet to get “ivory, apes and peacocks” from India.

There was close contact between Indian and Greek Philosophers. Pythagoras (c. 580 BC) and Histaopis, father of Darius the Persian king, visited India and studied Indian philosophy. The Greek historian Herodotus (489-425 BC) wrote about Indian cheeses, weapons, txtiles, and other products. In the 2nd century AD, Arian, another Greek historian, wrote about the wealth and population of the Punjab region of India.

Megasthenese, the Greek Ambassador sent by Seleucus to the court of Chandragupta Maurya arrived in 302 BC. He wrote about India’s brisk sea trade with the Persian Gulf ports of Mesopotamia and the Red Sea ports of Egypt.

In the 3rd century BC, the Greek ruler of Egypt Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 BC) sent Dionysius as his envoy to the Court of Bindusara, the Maurya king. The envoy was stunned by the pomp and pageantry in the Mauryan court.

By the beginning of the Christian era, Jews and Christians had started landing on Indian shores. In the history of world jewry, the only country in which they never faced any kind of discrimination or persecution, is India. St. Thomas is believed to have preached Christianity in India from AD 21-52. After the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, Jewish merchants fled to the Malabar Coast, under threat of Roman persecution. Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79), the famous Roman historian lamented the drain of Roman gold for pepper, textiles and ginger from India.

In our own times, India has swept its visitors off their feet with its culture, its natural beauty, its ineffable charm. To other countries, I have gone as a tourist, Martin Luther King once said, to India I have come as a pilgrim. Asked about her favorite memory of India, Jacqueline Kennedy smiled: "Just one memory? That's for boring countries!"

The magical backwaters of Kerala

Hiuen Tsiang (in India from 629-645)

The men keep their word and are trustworthy. The language is light and tripping, and their pronunciation distinct and correct

Emperor Timur Lang (1405)

India is full of gold and silver, diamond and ruby and emerald and tin and iron and steel and copper and quicksilver.of the plants that grow there are those fit for making wearing apparel and aromatic plants, and the sugar cane, and ir is a whole country which is always green and verdant, and the whole aspect of the country is pleasant and delightful .

Marco Polo (1320)

“India the greater, the richest province in the world”.

James Bryce (1810)

Under the name of India is comprehended an extensive portion of the globe, no less remarkable for its riches and fertility, than for having, in all ages, attracted the attention of other nations. India was one of the first countries in which the human race made any considerable advances in the career of improvement.

Maria Graham (1814)

Nature seems to have taken pleasure in embellishing and enriching the favoured country of Hindustan with every choicest gift.

Mark Twain (1896)

So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his round. Perhaps it will be simplest to throw away the tags and generalize her with one all comprehensive name as the land of wonders.